The Ultimate Battle
by Crazyfanperson
Summary: In a world where the population is divided into factions and everyone's fate hinges on a fated battle, our heroes must face the biggest challenge in every young persons life: High School. Life is miserable for outcasts Makoto Naegi and Nagito Komaeda thanks to queen bee and school bully Junko Enoshima. But a cunning plan and the arrival of new student Hajime Hinata may change that.
1. Chapter 1

Hope and Despair. For as long as anyone could remember people had been divided into these two categories. If you were born a Hope you had a fountain pen symbol on the back of your left hand. Whereas, if you were born a Despair then your left hand was adorned with a weird curve that had two smaller curves below it all caving inwards. This symbol was known as the Monokuma Eye, while the hope symbol was known as the Fountain Pen. Being born a Hope or a Despair had no effect on who you were as a person and both groups lived in harmony most of the time. However, once everyone one hundred years, two people were chosen as the Ultimate Hope and the Ultimate Despair. The Ultimate Hope would receive a lily symbol on their body and the Ultimate Despair received a knife symbol. The symbols could appear at any time on any part of the body and once the two people were chosen they would face each other in a battle of wits. This battle would decide the fate of the worlds people. If the Ultimate Hope won then they could order the Ultimate Despairs of the world to do anything they wish and vice versa should the Ultimate Despair win. The order only stands for a year and the battle only occurs once everyone hundred years so for most of the time the two groups lived in peace. Of course there are the extremists who believe the world should belong to just one of the factions, but fortunately the majority of people in the world just wanted to live in peace and the army and police dealt with these extremists when they became violent. This meant the Hopes and Despairs of the world could live peacefully alongside each other until the time came for the battle between the Ultimate Hope and the Ultimate Despair.

Our story begins at a time when this battle is quickly approaching. The battle this time would be unlike any other in history and the outcome would shock the entire world, but before any of that can happen, the identity of the Ultimate Hope must be uncovered.

One summer day when she was just four years old, the symbol of a knife appeared on the right wrist of Junko Enoshima. She was thrilled to discover she was the Ultimate Despair, as were her parents and twin sister. Reporters came from all over the world seeking exclusive interviews with the girl who would someday fight to give Despair power over Hope. Being only four her parents were against this and tried to keep the publicity limited. As she grew up they became a bit more comfortable with the idea and allowed her to be interviewed more often. This was how people came to notice her incredible beauty. By the time she was seventeen she was on the cover of practically every magazine in Japan. Thanks to her looks and title of Ultimate Despair she was one of the biggest celebrities in the country. She was always getting stopped in the street for autographs and photos and at school she was by far the most popular person out of everyone there. She was also one of the meanest, most cruel bullies and enjoyed other people's failure as much as, if not more than, her own success.

While Enoshima may have been happy, many people in the world were not. For the Ultimate Hope had yet to be found. The Ultimate Despair was already seventeen and still no one in the world had found the mark of a lily on their body. Either that or the person was hiding it. That thought was quite scary, especially to the world's Hope population. Everyone hoped that the Ultimate Hope simply hadn't awakened their power yet and someday soon they would be found and the battle between Hope and Despair would begin…


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh man!" Came the cry of a short and flustered brunette as he frantically searched his room for his notebook. This young man was Makoto Naegi, a Hope who's also a seventeen year old student at Hope's Peak Academy in Tokyo. He was less than average in hight, more than average in optimism and completely average in everything else. At least, that's how he tended to describe himself.

"Makoto, hurry up or you'll miss the bus!" Came the cry of his mother from downstairs.

"Okay!" He called back, digging through the papers and books on his desk. "Ah ha!" He cried out in triumph as he pulled his black spiral bound notebook from the mess. He smiled happily and shoved it into his bag. He bounded down the stairs, giving a quick goodbye to his family and rushing out the door. He kept running all the way to the bus stop in the next street. Thankfully he got there just as the bus was rounding the corner. He placed his hands of his knees for support as he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath as the bus was pulling up alongside him.

"Good morning." He greeted the bus driver as he got on board.

"Good morning to you too." She replied, shutting the doors behind him.

Naegi's stop was one of the last on the way to school so the bus was already pretty full when he got on board. He surveyed it from the front and managed to spot an empty seat in the second last row next to a tall, well proportioned girl with brown hair and a cheeky smile. He recognised her as one of his upperclassmen, a Despair named Akane Owari. He didn't know her that well personally but her boisterous nature gave her quite the reputation around the school. Still, sitting next to her for a few minutes couldn't hurt he thought as he made his way down the isle. Unfortunately he was so lost in his thoughts he didn't see the high-heeled, red-laced boot in his path. All he felt was a sharp pain in his ankle then the his face was slamming into the floor. The entire bus exploded with laughter, but through all the various sniggers and cackles Naegi could hear the distinct laugh of the perpetrator, Junko Enoshima. The popular and gorgeous Ultimate Despair and the meanest bully in school. For some reason she had a vendetta against Naegi. Ever since they met in second grade when Naegi's family moved to Tokyo Enoshima had been doing everything she could to make his life miserable. Unfortunately for her Naegi's optimism knew no bounds. Though there were times when it was touch and Naegi would even start to feel insecure and depressed he always managed to pick himself up and that irritated the young Ultimate Despair to no end. Naegi also never did anything to retaliate, it just wasn't in his nature to hurt others, even if they were doing all they could to make his life hell. Being tripped on the bus was something he was use to by this point so it didn't really bother him. He just sighed and got up, stumbling to the empty seat next to Owari and sitting down.

"Hey, little man, how ya doin'?" Owari asked, grinning and hooking an arm around Naegi's neck.

"Great, how are you?" He wheezed out as he was unintentionally choked.

"Pretty great, my step-dad finally caught that rat in our kitchen wall." She said. She began explaining how her step-father caught the annoying rodent, Naegi listened politely occasionally commenting on something she said. It only took a few minutes to reach the school and by that time they'd moved on to other topics.

"Well good luck." Owari said, slapping Naegi on the back as the two got off the bus. She immediately noticed her boyfriend, Nekomaru Nidai, and rushed over to him. Naegi headed off into the school and down the corridor to his locker. He ignored the people who looked at him and laughed behind their hands as he walked past. Thanks to Enoshima, Naegi had gained a reputation at school as, well for lack of a better word, a loser. She and her friends were gathered round her locker, which annoyingly was just opposite Naegi's, as he headed down there. He put in his combination and pulled the door open only to have blue paint explode in his face. Everyone in the corridor burst out laughing. Obviously this was Enoshima's work, with her locker being opposite his it wasn't difficult for her to have looked over his shoulder at one point and seen his locker combination. Naegi had appealed to the school about changing the combination but they didn't think it was worth the effort. Everyone always took Enoshima's side because she was the Ultimate Despair and one of the most successful models in Japan, who cared if she bullied some average nobody like himself. He sighed heavily as he lifted up his arm to wipe some of the paint off his face with his jacket sleeve.

"Hey Naegi, how are you today?" Enoshima asked. Naegi turned to see her leaning against her locker surrounded by her entourage. The popular crowd of the school. This group consisted of Sayaka Maizono, a Hope and one of Japan's most popular teen idol's, all her concerts were sellouts. She was only here because her parents insisted she get an education as well. Leon Kuwata, another Hope and star of the school baseball team and, as far as most of the girls in the school are concerned, not bad looking either. Hiyoko Saionji, a Despair and someone Enoshima liked having around because she was good at insulting and making fun of people. Saionji also liked the popularity that came with being a member of the group. Byakuya Togami, another Despair and heir to probably the richest conglomerate in the country. He was notorious for being an arrogant prick, but he was rich and handsome so naturally he was popular. Mikan Tsumiki, a Despair, she wasn't a member because she was popular, she just did whatever she was told to do, especially by Enoshima who she had an obvious crush on, so they kept her around as a kind of personal slave. Mukuro Ikusaba, she was Enoshima's twin sister and of course, a Despair. Despite their different personalities the two were actually very close and incredibly loyal to one another. Celestia Lundenberg, a Hope, no one knew her real name and there were several rumours surrounding it but she had all the requirements to be part of their group, in that she was cruel, manipulative and drop dead gorgeous. Then there was the final member of their group, Kyoko Kirigiri, a Hope. Makoto had had a crush on her since they were fourteen years old. He'd accidentally ran into her in the library causing both of them to drop their stuff. He apologised and helped pick her things up. As soon as their eyes met he was completely dumbstruck with how beautiful she was. When he finally snapped out of it he noticed she was asking if he'd sit with her. The two of them spent hours chatting together and actually discovered they had a lot in common. Naegi completely fell in love with everything about her. Her laugh, her hair, her eyes, her smile, her personality, it was all so wonderful to him. Not that he'd ever admit any of this. He'd only end up making a fool of himself. Kirigiri's beauty and intelligence had captured more hearts than just his and she'd quickly gained popularity throughout the school. Another thing that intrigued people about Kirigiri was the fact that she'd been wearing gloves to school eveyday for the last three years. Kirigiri never talked about why she wore her gloves and there were all sorts of rumours surrounding it but she never seemed to care. She was still a beautiful, intelligent and popular young woman. Naegi was sure she'd forgotten all about that day they spent in the library, now that she was a part of the group that had been tormenting him most of his school life. She wasn't as cruel as some of the others, the same could be said of Maizono, Ikusaba and Kuwata, but Enoshima could entice all of them into bullying and humiliating him if she wanted to. Like today when they were all laughing as he stood before them dripping in paint.

"Very funny Enoshima." He sighed, feeling paint start to drip down his face from his hair.

"Yes, I thought so." She said, causing her group to laugh again.

"You look like an ugly monster." Saionji snickered childishly.

"Yeah and he's covered in paint too." Ikusaba added causing them all to laugh again. Naegi could feel his face heat up in embarrassment as he was degraded in the middle of a crowded hallway. Not that he wasn't use to it.

Unfortunately he didn't have time to get to the bathroom before the bell rang so he had to sit through his first few classes with paint drying in his hair and on his clothes while his classmates snickered softly. The teachers just ignored it, they were use to Enoshima's pranks, just as they were use to Naegi being the most common victim. No one would punish the wonderful Ultimate Despair though. Naegi had to wait until the bell went for lunch before he could head over to the boys bathroom. He practically flew out of the classroom and down the hall, hoping to avoid too much teasing from his peers. He was going so fast he accidentally slammed into someone when he turned a corner and both were sent flying to the ground.

"Sorry." They said at the same time. Naegi sat up and looked at the poor soul he'd just run down. It was a young man, around the same age as him with spiky hair and an ahoge similar to his own but this man's hair was a bit darker. His eyes were a piercing green.

"I'm really sorry." Naegi said, offering a hand to the young man.

"It's fine, I was, sort of… Lost in thought, I wasn't paying attention." He said, grabbing Naegi's hand. Naegi noticed the despair symbol on the back of his hand as he pulled him back to his feet.

"I'm Makoto Naegi, nice to meet you." Naegi introduced, holding out his hand to the other.

"Hajime Hinata." The young man said, taking Naegi's hand and shaking it politely.

"Well it was nice to meet you but I must be off, see you around." Said Naegi, giving Hinata a quick wave as he headed off to the bathroom. He was thankful there was no one there when he arrived and began to splash water in his face and over his hair. Sadly, a lot of the paint had dried by this point. He was able to scrape most of it out of his hair but couldn't get it off his jacket. Fortunately his jacket was a very dark brown so it didn't show too much. He decided it would have to do and headed off to the dining hall for lunch. The room was already in uproar when he arrived. All the tables in the room had a designated group. At the largest table in the middle sat the popular group. Enoshima was the centre of attention, sitting proudly with a smug smile on her face. Tsumiki was sat on her left babbling with a heavy blush on her face, no doubt telling Enoshina how amazing she thought she was. Ikusaba was on her right, smiling softly as she ate a salad. Kuwata, Maizono and Saionji were all having a conversation while they ate. Togami and Kirigiri were sat off to the side reading quietly. Naegi let his eyes linger a little longer on Kirigiri, just thinking how beautiful her eyes looked when they were so focused but he caught himself and looked away, determined not to be caught staring.

Naegi ducked his head and headed over to his table passing the other groups along the way. The first table he past consisted of Akane Owari and Nekomaru Nidai, who, like his girlfriend, was a Despair. He was also one of largest and strongest kids in school and the official coach for nearly all the school's sports teams. Sat with them was Sonia Nevermind, a Hope and exchange student from a country called Novoselic, she was widely considered to be one of the most beautiful girls in the school and could have easily been a member of the popular crowd but she avoided them by choice claiming she did not want anything to do with "bullies like them", as she put it. Also at their table sat Gundam Tanaka, another Hope, he was quite an eccentric person who enjoyed dressing dramatically and never went anywhere without his pet hamsters.

The second table he passed included Kiyotaka Ishimaru, a Despair and the school's head hall monitor. His best friend Mondo Owada, a Hope and ironically one of the school's biggest delinquents. Their other friend, Chihiro Fujisaki, also a Hope, who was quite small and shy. Both Owada and Ishimaru were very protective of him. They were also joined by Yasuhiro Hagakure, a Despair. He was already nineteen but still in Naegi's grade due to being held back a few times. He wasn't very bright but he had a good heart and an easygoing attitude. The final person at this table was Kazuichi Soda, a Despair. He enjoyed fixing things and flirting with girls way out of his league. Though to give him some credit he was the star of the school's design and tech class.

At the next table sat Aoi Asahina and her best friend Sakura Ogami. Asahina was a Hope and Ogami was a Despair. Both really enjoyed sports, Asahina was the star of the school swim team and Ogami was the star of the school's martial arts club. Also sat with them were Chiaki Nanami and Ibuki Mioda, both Hopes. Nanami always seemed to be tired no matter what. She was a really friendly person but she'd kick anyone's ass at any video game if challenged. Mioda was very outgoing and energetic. She had a strong passion for music, especially punk/rock.

At the next table sat Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, a Despair, Kuzuryu put up a front that he was tough and mean but deep down he was a really nice guy. None knew this better than his best friend, Peko Pekoyama. She too was a Despair and had known Kuzuryu since they were kids. It was obvious to everyone that they were both crushing on each other big time but they were both too proud and too scared to admit it. Also sat with them was Mahiru Koizumi, a Hope and head of the school photography club. She had a strong temper but was generally very friendly.

He kept moving past the tables filled with people from the upper or lower years that he didn't know at all. He only really knew the people in his year and the one above because their years were always paired together for school events and special class activities. Eventually he came to his area of the cafeteria. The area reserved for loners. This was a cluster of small tables where people who didn't fit into a group would sit on their own.

One of those people was Toko Fukawa, a girl in Naegi's year and a Despair. She was a genius writer and star English student but she had a massive inferiority complex and didn't trust anyone. A lot of people found her annoying because of it. No one hated her more than Togami whom she had an unhealthy obsession with.

Also a loner was another classmate of Naegi's, Hifumi Yamada, a Hope. He spent most of his time watching anime and drawing fan art/writing fan fiction for it. He could be quite obsessive too, leading people to find him a bit disturbing. Not that he cared, he liked to insist he was happy with his "2D friends".

Then there was Teruteru Hanamura, a Despair and notorious pervert. He was constantly throwing himself at people, no matter their gender or faction (Hope or Despair). Most people just avoided him but if he ever offered them some food they'd take it. No one was scared he'd drug it or anything, he took immense pride in his cooking skills and wouldn't tarnish a dish he'd prepared for any reason. His family owned one of the best diners in the city so Hanamura had grown up around food. Cooking and love were his life as he'd say.

At the table next to Hanamura usually sat Nagito Komaeda, a Hope, infamous throughout the school for being creepy and obsessive, but Naegi was surprised to see he wasn't sat alone today. In the chair opposite him was the boy Naegi had run into earlier, Hajime Hinata. The two were talking and eating together. Komaeda was acting quite flustered whilst Hinata looked a bit uncomfortable but at the same time determined.

Naegi tried not to eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about and headed to his table. He too sat alone. Not by choice of course, he would give anything to have friends. Unfortunately, most people he'd ever made friends with were scared off by Enoshima. Naegi couldn't understand why she went to such lengths to make him miserable. If anyone wasn't scared off by Enoshima's bullying she found a way to blackmail them. So now Naegi had to face her wrath on his own. Most of the time he bore it with a smile though there were moments when it became difficult. Like, for example, right now, as he noticed Enoshima, Ikusaba and Tsumiki coming over to his table. As soon as they reached him, Enoshima slammed the sandwich Naegi had only just taken out from out of his hand, leering down at him as intimidatingly as possible.

"Hey, Naegi, having a nice lunch?" She asked with a sickly fake sweetness to her tone.

"Um… Yeah." He replied nervously.

"Well, listen, I need your help with something." She continued.

"I have a lot of important interviews and photoshoots this week so I have no time to do my homework. So I need you to do it for me."

She pulled a thick notebook out of her bag and dumped it on the table in front of him.

"What? That's not fair." Said Naegi.

"Come on, I mean it's not like you have much to be doing." She said.

"Y-yeah," Tsumiki butted in, "you don't have a-a-a l-ife anyw-w-ay s-so you should d-do something useful for once."

"Yeah Naegi." Enoshima said, leaning closer with a wicked grin on her face. "How does it feel, knowing you're life is meaningless? That you have no friends? That you're completely boring?"

"You're so plain looking." Said Ikusaba, they all began to laugh. Naegi kept his head down. He knew their words were true but they still hurt deeply. He silently dragged the notebook off the table and into his bag then left the cafeteria, trying not to cry. It was only a few minutes till the bell rang so he quickly headed back to his locker to grab his books for his final classes.

Surprisingly, nobody made fun of Naegi during his last classes. In fact quite the opposite, they completely ignored him. Instead, he saw a few people pointing and snickering at Komaeda, who, when he looked closely, he noticed had dried tear tracks down his cheeks. Something must have happened after he left the dining hall.

Being the caring and concerned person he was, he approached Komaeda at the end of the day when he was about to walk out of the school gates.

"Komaeda," he called after him. The white haired boy stopped and waited till Naegi caught up to him.

"Yes, Naegi, how can I help?" He asked politely.

"You seemed upset this afternoon, is anything the matter?"

Komaeda seemed a bit thrown off by the question.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you for your concern but someone like me is unworthy of it. Enjoy your evening."

Komaeda turned and began walking down the street. Naegi stared after him, certain there was more to it than he was letting on. He thought about running after Komaeda but was worried he'd be overstepping boundaries, so instead he went home and decided to try again tomorrow.

"Hey Makoto." His sister greeted him when he arrived back. "How was school?"

"Same as always," he replied with a smile. His family didn't know about the bullying and he was determined to keep it that way. He didn't want them to worry. "I better get a start on my homework."

"Okay see you at dinner." She said.

Naegi headed to his room and got out Enoshima's homework as well as his own. He sighed, realising he may not have time to do all of it. He decided to do Enoshima's first since he knew there'd be consequences if he didn't. He sighed heavily, opening the notebook and beginning to write.


	3. Chapter 3

Hajime Hinata had just moved to Tokyo and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about starting at Hope's Peak Academy. He had trouble making friends because people found him unapproachable. He was a nice person really but he could be a bit harsh with people at times. As his mother drove him to the school that morning he thought about how he planned to make sure he made lots of friends this time.

"Have a nice day sweetie." His mother said as he got out of the car.

"Thanks mom, you have a good day too."

He shut the car door, took a deep breath and walked into his new school. He took the sheet of paper the school had sent to him out of his bag and set about locating his locker. He eventually found it near the end of a long corridor. He was just shoving stuff inside when suddenly he heard a commotion down the hall. He grabbed his things and slammed his locker shut, running to join the crowd. He saw a kid with brown hair and an ahoge similar to his own standing in front his locker with black paint all over his face and down his front. Everyone in the corridor laughed at him as he wiped his face on his sleeve and turned around to speak with a girl standing behind him. Hinata recognised her as the famous model and Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima. Hinata thought about stepping in to help but he wasn't really sure whether this was a friendly or malicious prank. While he was thinking about it the boy covered in paint had picked up his things and left causing the rest of the crowd to disperse back to their previous conversations. Hinata decided he should try to find his first class, knowing that by the time he'd worked out where it was he'd probably just be there on time even though there was a good twenty minutes before the bell rang. He looked at the map he'd been given and began a trek down various corridors looking for room 77-A. Of course the map was completely useless, all the hallways looked the same and he was completely lost. He kept walking just hoping he'd find his way eventually. As he rounded yet another corner he saw a boy in a green coat leaning against a wall and reading a book.

"Excuse me?" Hinata said, approaching the boy. He lowered his books and raised his eyes to meet Hinata's. Up close Hinata was able to see his eyes were a greyish green, almost white colour. He also had fluffy white hair and was maybe an inch taller than Hinata.

"Oh, hello." The boy said. His voice was soft and upbeat.

"I'm a bit lost, do you know where class 77-A is?"

"Ah, yes, that's my first class too, it's just at the end of this hall." He pointed down the hallway. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, guess it's pretty obvious." Hinata laughed nervously. "My name is Hajime Hinata."

"Nagito Komaeda, it's nice to meet you."

"Yeah you too."

"Oh, you don't have to lie."

"Huh?" Hinata was very confused by his response.

"I know you can't be happy meeting such lowly trash like myself, but I understand, you don't have to pretend you aren't bothered by me."

The young man, Komaeda, was still smiling despite all the self-deprecating things he was saying. It made Hinata feel rather uncomfortable.

"Why would you think that?" Hinata asked.

"Hmm?" Komaeda looked genuinely confused by what he said.

"Why would you think you're trash?" Hinata elaborated.

"Because I am." He replied, speaking as if it was obvious.

Suddenly the bell rang, interrupting them. Komaeda began making his way down the hall to the classroom. Hinata followed in silence, unable to think of anything to say.

He spent the next few lessons half focused on what the teacher was saying and the other half watching Komaeda with curiosity. While he was a bit scared he was also intrigued by the strange teen. So when lunch rolled around he decided to ask Komaeda if he could sit with him. Komaeda seemed genuinely surprised by the question and tried to tell Hinata he'd be better off sitting with someone else but Hinata was very persistent and eventually Komaeda gave in. Turned out Komaeda sat by himself during lunch and didn't have any friends. Hinata wondered if it had anything to do with the weird way the boy acted. He decided to just ask him.

"Why do you sit alone?"

"Oh," Komaeda said in surprise. "Well, everyone knows how disgusting I am so naturally they do not wish to be around me anymore than necessary. Speaking of which, you should probably sit somewhere else Hinata, there are far more interesting people than me in this school and if they see you with me they might think you're trash too!"

"Is that why you call yourself trash? Because other people call you that?" Hinata asked.

"I guess…" Komaeda muttered, his smile dropping off his face suddenly. "I've never had a family you see and nobody's ever liked me so I guess I just came to terms with the fact that I'm nothing but lowly trash." He smiled again, taking a bite of his salad. "It's so much easier to just accept things."

"You shouldn't accept something like that." Hinata protested. "I've also had a hard time making friends because people find me too intimidating but I refuse to just give up."

Hinata looked at Komaeda with determination in his eyes. Komaeda seemed to be contemplating Hinata's words when their attention was suddenly drawn to the table behind them as they heard the sound of laughter. They turned around and Hinata noticed Enoshima and two other girls, one with short black hair, the other with long purple hair, all laughing at someone. The person grabbed their stuff and stood up and it was then that Hinata noticed it was the boy from this morning who'd been covered in paint, Makoto Naegi. He watched as the shorter boy fled the room, obviously upset.

"That's Makoto Naegi." Komaeda said suddenly, not realising Hinata had already met Naegi that morning. Hinata turned back to face him. "Enoshima's been bullying him for years, she's a pretty cruel person all-round but for some reason she singled him out as her favourite, no one knows why."

"Well, well, look at this." A high-pitched, sickeningly fake, sweet voice said. Hinata looked up to see Enoshima and her entourage were now circling their table. Some of the other people at the popular table had come over to see what was going on as well. "The freak finally has a friend?"

"Why would you want to sit with garbage?" A childlike girl with blonde pigtails asked.

Komaeda smiled and ignored their comments. Hinata stared at him, wondering how he wasn't affected by this at all, and it was then that he noticed. While Komaeda kept a warm smile planted on his face his eyes were filled with sadness. Hinata realised Komaeda really was hurt by what people thought of him, he just hid it really well.

"Leave us alone." Hinata said, glaring at the group, for once thankful that his stare was supposedly very scary.

"We're just trying to help." Enoshima said. "You should know that Komaeda here has tried to kill himself at least three times now, but he's so useless he always fails."

The group laughed. They actually laughed at what she said. Hinata was completely appalled.

"How dare you?!" He cried, standing up to face Enoshima. She seemed genuinely taken aback by his actions. "That's not funny so just shut up."

"Oh come on, you're actually defending this freak?" She asked.

"Yeah, everyone knows he's a creep, he worships the Ultimate Hope like a god." Ikusaba added.

"Yeah, he probably has a shrine to them in his room." Said Saionji.

"I— b-bet he does b-blood rituals and every-t-t-thing." Said Tsumiki.

Most of the cafeteria was laughing at this point. There was a large number of people, who, like Hinata, did not approve of the bullying. However, a lot of people were okay with it since it was Komaeda. There was a reason he had no friends. He was already a pretty strange individual thanks to things in his past that he'd rather not talk about and thanks to the exaggerated rumours spread by Enoshima he was feared by almost everyone in the school.

Hinata had no knowledge of any of this, as far as he was concerned a slightly strange but pretty nice person was being bullied and he wasn't going to stand for it.

"Don't call him a freak, all of you need to leave us alone, now." He insisted, hoping his intimidating personality might get them to back down. Saionji and Tsumiki did look a bit unnerved but Ikusaba was stone faced and Enoshima looked like she was enjoying every second of this.

Komeada was both hurt and shocked. The things the girls were saying about him were things he'd heard before many times, but deep down they still made his heart ache. He also couldn't believe someone was actually willing to defend him. He'd already told Hinata how disgusting he was and yet the young man still stood up for trash like him? He felt so overwhelmed, he couldn't take this, he just couldn't. He shot out of his chair and bolted from the room with tears streaming down his face. Enoshima crossed her arms and grinned smugly, pleased that she'd finally gotten a reaction from him. Komaeda had kept up his mask of happiness for years now and suddenly he could be reduced to tears again. She knew it had to have something to do with the new kid. It seemed things were finally getting interesting again.

"So, new guy, what's your name anyway?" She asked.

"Hajime Hinata, not that it's any of your business."

"Aw, you really care about Komaeda?" She simpered.

"He's my friend."

"Really? Isn't this your first day here? How can you be so sure you can trust him? How do you know what people say about him isn't true?"

"Well—" Hinata tried to think of a retort but the words died in his throat as he realised she was right, he really didn't know a lot about Komaeda. Enoshima smirked at his silence, knowing she'd hit the nail on the head.

"It doesn't matter how well I know him." Hinata said finally. "You still had no right to treat him or anyone like that."

With those final words he picked up his stuff and left. He attempted to find Komaeda but the young Hope proved to be allusive. All his search amounted to was finding himself lost in a series of empty corridors. In the end he had no choice but to return to his afternoon classes and he was sad to learn Komaeda was in none of them. He was even sadder to find him nowhere in sight when school finished and he was forced to go home having not consoled his first friend here in Tokyo. He swore to himself that somehow, before the year was over, he'd understand the complex individual that was Nagito Komaeda.


	4. Chapter 4

Naegi awoke to the sound of his alarm ringing. His head shot off his desk in surprise as it blasted in his ears. He slammed his hand on it and blinked tiredly, still half-asleep and disorientated. He blinked and took a few deep breaths, trying regain his focus. He eventually realised he was sat at his desk still in his clothing from the previous day. His desk was strewth with books and papers. His and Enoshima's homework, he realised, he must have fallen asleep working on it.

"Makoto, breakfast is ready." He head his mother shout from downstairs. He groaned tiredly, stretching his arms and flexing his joints. His back was all stiff from sleeping slumped over in a chair.

"I'll be down in a minute." He called to his mom, deciding it was best to change clothes since the ones he was wearing didn't smell very nice. Besides, his jacket still had paint on it from yesterday. So he took a quick shower and put on a fresh shirt and pants. He then rushed down to find his sister eating cereal at the kitchen table and his mother placing a plate of toast covered in his favourite strawberry jam in front of the seat opposite.

"Thanks mom." He said, sitting down and biting into one of the slices. He moaned happily at the warm, sweet taste.

"Sleep well brother?" Komaru asked.

"Yes, and you?"

"Yeah, got anything exciting planned today?" She asked.

"No," Naegi replied sheepishly. "Just school and homework."

He frowned, remembering it wasn't just his homework he had to do.

"Everything okay Makoto?" Komaru asked.

"Oh yeah, fine." He smiled at her.

He shoved the last bite of toast in his mouth and took his plate to the dishwasher. It was getting quite late so he quickly ran upstairs to grab his stuff. He shoved it in his school bag and bounded back down the stairs and out the door. He began his normal walk to the bus stop, giving himself a little pep talk in his head. Being able to remain optimistic despite the bullying from Enoshima and her friends was about the only part of himself that he liked. When the bus pulled up Naegi greeted the driver warmly just as he always did. He then walked down the isle looking for an empty seat just as he always did. He got tripped over by Enoshima just as he always did. Everyday it was the same thing, but he smiled and carried on anyway because Naegi always had hope for the future.

Today the only empty seat was beside Kuzuryu who wasn't in the mood to talk so Naegi spent the next ten minutes sitting in silence. He practically sprinted out of the bus when it finally arrived at school. Luckily it was pretty crowded in the courtyard so he was able to avoid Enoshima and her friends pretty easily and make it to his locker unscathed. He was pleased to discover there were no nasty surprises waiting for him when he opened it this morning and he quickly grabbed his books for his first classes. As he was walking to his home room he thought about yesterday. It seemed the new kid, Hajime Hinata, had made friends with Komaeda, Naegi smiled happily at the thought, the lonelier people in this school deserved a good friend by their side in his opinion. He would make friends with all of them if he could but he knew Enoshima would make their lives even worse if he did so he kept to himself. He never understood her need to destroy his life. As he sat alone in the back of his home room class that morning his mind took him back to the day the two of them had first met. They were incredibly young, only in the second grade…

_Naegi was incredibly nervous as he stood before the class. His family had just moved to Tokyo and today was his first day at Hope's Peak Academy Prep School. _

_"Class, this is our new student Makoto Naegi, please make him feel welcome." The teacher introduced. Naegi waved shyly at his new classmates. Some of them smiled and waved back and Naegi found himself relaxing ever so slightly. _

_During the break when all the kids went outside to play Naegi joined everyone in a game of tag and pretty soon forgot all about his nervousness. He was running from the person that was "it" and laughing happily when suddenly a foot tripped him up. _

_"Oops." A high-pitched voice said, snickering. Naegi looked up to see a young girl with pink pigtails and sky blue eyes. She had a cruel smirk on her face as she looked down her nose at the poor boy sprawled in the dirt. A few of the students around them laughed nervously while others came over and asked Naegi if he was alright. _

_"What did you do that for Enoshima?" A young brunette, who Naegi would later come to know as Akane Owari, asked the girl with the pigtails. Naegi gasped and jumped back to his feet. Enoshima? As in Junko Enoshima the Ultimate Despair? Naegi stared at her in complete awe, he hadn't noticed it before, too preoccupied with having his face in the dirt, but now he recognised the beautiful little girl from her tv and magazine appearances. _

_"You- you're the Ultimate Despair…" Naegi whispered in amazement. _

_"Yeah, and you're just some plain nobody." Enoshima laughed. "Seriously, have you seen the way you look, with that generic hairstyle and eye-colour, plus you're always polite and only do what everyone else wants to do," she laughed even harder, "you have no originality at all!" _

_Almost everyone joined her in laughing at Naegi's expense. Some because they actually agreed with what she said but most because they didn't want to get on her bad side. Naegi's face was horribly red and he looked as though he might burst into tears at any moments. He wanted desperately to escape from this but the other children had surrounded him. One of the boys stood close to him gave his back a shove with both hands causing Naegi to stumble forwards. Straight into Enoshima. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his watery eyes with sadistic pleasure when suddenly her big blue eyes seemed to widen in shock. Then Naegi was on his back in the dirt and dust being kicked by hundreds of little feet. _

Naegi sighed heavily as the bell rang, picking up his bag ready to go to his next class. He didn't know what he'd done that day to make Enoshima hate him so much but whatever it was he'd been paying for it ever since.

When he arrived at his next class he was surprised to see his usual seat was occupied, he was even more shocked to see the one sitting there was the boy with the angry eyes and spiked hair he'd run into yesterday, Hinata. The only free seat was next to Hinata so Naegi sat there, smiling and saying hello to his new classmate.

"Oh, I remember you, Naegi right?" Hinata asked. Naegi nodded.

"Sorry for running you down yesterday." Naegi laughed sheepishly.

"It's okay. I um… Haven't seen you in any of my other classes."

"Oh, well I'm actually a year bellow, I was moved up into this class because the teacher's said I was 'performing well'" Naegi laughed awkwardly. Praise always embarrassed him.

"Really? Cool, you must be pretty smart then."

"Ah… Not really, I just, notice things…" Naegi said awkwardly. It was true, Naegi noticed things, particularly about people. It was like this special gift he had, to understand others. Which was probably why he'd been moved up a year in this psychology class. Though he didn't have a very high opinion of himself so he felt pretty embarrassed about being moved ahead. Fortunately, he was saved further embarrassment by the arrival of the teacher. He focused on his work for the next hour, only occasionally talking to Hinata about stuff relating to the lesson. It wasn't long before the bell rang and it was time for them to part ways as Naegi's next class was with his own classmates.

"Hey." Hinata said, as they were packing up their stuff. "I noticed you were sitting alone yesterday at lunch, maybe you could join me and Komaeda?"

"Oh, that, uh, that's really not a good idea."

"Why not?"

Naegi looked down sadly.

"Junko Enoshima hates me and she hurts anyone for being friends with me so—"

"What?" Hinata exclaimed. "Why would anyone do something like that? Just to stop you from having friends?"

"I don't know, she's just always hated me."

"Well, I don't care, I think you should join us."

"Oh, no really it's okay, I have to go now but it was nice talking with you Hinata."

Naegi rushed out of the room before Hinata could even open his mouth. He appreciated Hinata's kindness, he really did, but there was no way he could let Enoshima hurt him the way she'd hurt Naegi so for Hinata's own safety he'd steer clear.

When lunch finally did role around Naegi spent it in one of the classrooms, quiet and out of everyone's way. He was afraid if he went to the cafeteria then Hinata might insist on sitting with him. He'd been so kind and so determined to stand up for what was right but Naegi knew Enoshima would do awful things to Hinata, as she had done everyone else who'd ever tried to be friends with Naegi, if she found out. Naegi couldn't let that happen.

Meanwhile, Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair and queen of Hope's Peak Academy, was sitting at the centre table of the school cafeteria just like she always did, feeling bored as hell. Her favourite punching bag, Makoto Naegi, had failed to show up for lunch and her second favourite, Nagito Komaeda, was absent also. She thought about teasing that wimp Fujisaki, or messing with the new kid, Hina? Hitana? Or something, but she wasn't really in the mood for that. She much preferred messing with Naegi, the reason for which was a secret she'd held close to her chest for years.

"So the freak corner's missing a few people today." Celestia noted, looking over at the section of the cafeteria reserved for outcasts.

"Yes, I'm so disappointed. Naegi knows he should be here for me to make fun of, how dare he stand me up like this." Enoshima complained childishly.

"What did you have planned today dear sister?" Ikusaba asked.

"Well…" Enoshima mused thoughtfully. "I was just going to improvise something, it's never fun if I know everything that's going to happen."

"Well, maybe we could come up with something," Celestia suggested.

"Yeah, something that would really crush his spirit." Saionji said, snickering.

"Naegi's so optimistic about everything, it'd have to be truely devastating for his spirit to be broken." Said Ikusaba.

"Well you know, the best way to break a man's spirit is to break his heart." Celestia said with a laugh.

"Ooh…" Enoshima hummed. "That sounds fun."

"So w-what we g-g-get him to fall-l-l in love with one-e of us t-then break his he-he-heart?" Tsumiki asked.

"Exactly." Enoshima smirked. "Only question is whom?"

"How about we each ask him out, I'm sure he'll say yes to one of us." Said Celestia.

"Won't that make him suspicious?" Maizono asked.

"Naegi? Please, he doesn't have a suspicious bone in his body." Said Togami.

"I'm uh… Not so sure about this, it seems a little unnecessary…" Maizono said nervously.

"Yes." Kirigiri cut in. "I agree, you might be going a little too far."

"Oh come on guys, Naegi's a loser, who cares?" Celestia said.

"Yeah, Naegi needs to be taken down, and you two are going to help me with it, aren't you?" Enoshima threatened, looking between Maizono and Kirigiri challengingly. That was end of the argument, nobody, not even an idol like Maizono or someone as stone-cold as Kirigiri, had it in them to stand up to Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair. So it was agreed, every girl in the popular group would ask Naegi out in the hopes he'd say yes to one of them.

"Naegi." The young man in question raised his head to find out who'd called him as he waited outside his next class. He found Hinata stood next to him. "You didn't come to lunch."

"I'm sorry, I uh… Well…" Naegi stammered nervously, placing a hand behind his head.

"Enoshima really has you scared doesn't she." It wasn't a question.

"She's hurt people, for getting too close to me. I can't let you go through that."

"You shouldn't have to go through it either."

"You should go, or else you'll be late."

Hinata looked like he wanted to say more but in the end he just sighed and headed off down the corridor.

"Naegi."

Naegi turned away from Hinata and saw Maizono stood in front of him, smiling sweetly.

"Um… Yes Maizono, can I help you?"

Naegi was nervous. Maizono had never bullied him directly but she was still a part of the popular group.

"I was wondering, would you maybe like to go out for dinner tonight?"

Naegi blushed profusely.

"Y-You mean l-l-like a date?!" He stammered.

"Yes. Look, I know I've never been that nice to you, I'm sorry for standing by and watching Enoshima treat you the way she does but I've always had this kind of crush on you." Her cheeks were a slight pink now and she was biting her lip nervously. "I know you have every right to hate me but I was wondering if you could give me a chance?"

Naegi continued to blush and stammer incoherently. He started to think he must have fallen asleep in class and was having a weird dream. One of the most popular and sort after girls in the school was asking him on a date! Him! Makoto Naegi the biggest loser in school.

"Well?" She prompted.

"Uh… I um… Are you serious?"

"Yes." She replied staring determinedly into his eyes. "I really like you Naegi."

"But- But I'm _me_. I'm nobody."

"No you're not, I'm sorry I've never said these things before."

"Maizono, if Enoshima finds out about this she'll destroy you."

"I don't care."

"Look," Naegi sighed, finally regaining control of his senses. "Even if I was willing to risk it, I'm afraid I can't return your feelings. I'm sorry."

Maizono looked taken aback.

"I know, I know I've not exactly been nice to you but give me a chance to—"

"no that's not it!" Naegi interrupted. "I just don't have those feelings for you, I'm really sorry. But hey, you deserve someone better any way."

He smiled at her and headed into his class, leaving the young idol to stare after him with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Naegi flopped down on his desk feeling incredibly worn out after that very strange and very distressing ordeal. One of the most popular girls the school said she was interested in him? One of the most unpopular guys in the school? Scratch that, _the_ most unpopular guy in the school.

"Naegi."

Naegi looked up at the sound of his name to find Celestia stood in front of him. He tensed up immediately, unlike Maizono, Celestia had often partaken in Naegi's torment.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologise for the way I've treated you. The truth is I've always wanted to be your friend Naegi but you see Enoshima… She knows things, things about me no one can ever know. I have no choice but to play along, not that it excuses my actions, I just—" She broke off looking distressed. Being the expert actress that she was Naegi was almost convinced she was telling the truth, but Naegi with his mysterious sixth sense for understanding people was suspicious of her behaviour.

"Look Celeste, I understand that a lot of people don't want to be around me because of what Enoshima will do to them, and I don't want her to hurt them either so it's probably best if you just continue following her."

"In school yes, but that doesn't mean we couldn't hang out other times does it?"

"Huh?"

Naegi stared at her in confusion. He'd never expected Celestia to be so determined just to spend time with him. Plain, boring, loser Makoto Naegi.

"We could meet in secret if you like."

If Naegi didn't know any better he'd think she was flirting with him.

"Look Celeste, I appreciate the offer but there's still a risk of Enoshima finding out, I don't want to put you through that."

A part of him meant what he just said, but another part was kind of scared of Celeste. He had a sense she wasn't being completely honest with him. She seemed to get that Naegi wasn't going to be swayed and went over to her usual seat. Celestia Ludenberg was many things but one thing she wasn't was a sore loser, she could see there was no way she'd be the one to convince Naegi to date her. In all honesty she was quite relieved, dating wasn't something she liked to do period, never mind with someone like Naegi.

Meanwhile, Naegi was feeling incredibly worn out from his two encounters. He was beginning to wonder if this was all just a strange dream. He could barely concentrate as the teacher did the roll call and ended up missing her call his name. She had to yell to get his attention and naturally everyone laughed as he blushed and mumbled a quick "here". He tried to clear his head and spent the rest of the lesson taking notes and focusing on learning. The next few lessons repeated in the same manner, bar the unusual confrontations at the beginning and by the time he was outside, having evaded Enoshima, and waiting for the bus he'd completely forgotten about it. Unfortunately for him, the girls hadn't.

"Well, I failed." Maizono said, as she and the rest of the popular group gathered round Enoshima's locker.

"Me too, though to be honest I'm relieved, I really wasn't looking forward to the idea of dating that short wimp." Celeste added.

"Well, he definitely wouldn't date Enoshima." Kirigiri stated calmly. "No offence." She added, though she didn't sound like she really meant it.

"It's fine." Enoshima assured, "I'm well aware he wouldn't be interested in me, despite my beauty Naegi's hardly going to go out with someone who's tormented him for years." She sounded almost proud as she said this, as if ruining Naegi's life was a noble goal and one she was happy to pursue. "Mukuro, Kirigiri, Saionji and Tsumiki will have to try next week."

"Why next week?" Saionji asked.

"Because even someone as trusting as that loser would be suspicious if everyone asked him out at once in such a short amount of time."

"You seem to have really thought this through." Kirigiri commented.

"Of course, there's two more years left until graduation and I want to make certain Naegi's spirit is broken before then, thus everything must go perfectly."

"Why do you hate him so much anyway?" Asked Maizono.

"It's to do with an incident that happened in our childhood and that's all I wish to say about it." Enoshima replied then promptly grabbed her stuff and strutted off down the corridor without so much as a goodbye. Ikusaba hurried to catch up with her while the others simply stood around to contemplate her words.


	5. Chapter 5

As Hinata walked to school on his second day at Hope's Peak Academy, he was even more determined to befriend Komaeda. Hinata had always had difficulty making friends and it seemed Komaeda did too. Hinata couldn't understand why everyone was so afraid of someone like him. At worst Hinata found Komaeda to be self-conscious and a little strange but he was sure he'd be a cool guy if he got to know him, and that's what he was going to do. As soon as he entered the school building he headed straight to where he'd met Komaeda yesterday, hoping it wasn't a one off and Komaeda usually spent his mornings at the other end of the corridor from their homeroom. He almost sighed in relieved happiness when he rounded the corner to said corridor and saw a mop of white hair attached to a pale boy in a long green jacket leaning against the wall.

"Hey." He said, smiling as he stood in front of Komaeda. The young Hope looked up, startled.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to hang out with you before class." Hinata said simply, bluntly, thus was his style. Komaeda was visibly shocked by his words, almost frightened even. Hinata did his best to ignore this and leaned against the wall opposite, smiling. "So, what are some of your hobbies?" He asked, that seemed like a safe, conversation starting question. Komaeda just stared at him, seemingly shocked silent.

"Hinata…" He began with a sigh. "Please, just— Don't do this."

"What?"

"This!" Suddenly the pale boy was hysterical. "Don't try to be friends with me it'll only end badly it always does!"

"I don't care."

Komaeda's eyes widened at Hinata's words and the certainty in his voice. Was this hot-headed yet kind Despair really that determined to be his friend?

"Why?" Komaeda's voice came out so soft, so thick with emotion. "Why would you so desperately want to be friends with someone like me?"

"Because I don't believe what everyone says about you. You know people always use to say it was best to avoid me because I was scary and short-tempered, which I suppose is true but I'd always hoped at least someone would give me a chance, because, well, everyone deserves a chance, even you Komaeda."

Komaeda turned his head away, silently. Hinata waited patiently for him to speak but instead he began to chuckle, a harrowing, terrifying laugh.

"What you say… can you be certain of your words?" He asked, he looked at Hinata with a smile that made his blood run cold, eyes red-rimmed but empty. "You don't know me, I could have killed for all you know, or perhaps I'm dying myself. How can you be certain I deserve a chance?"

He was leaning towards Hinata now, almost challengingly. Hinata was taken aback by his sudden change of character. Was this was why people were scared of him? Was he really crazy? Hinata shook the thoughts from his head. If that was true then he would find out for himself because once he set his mind to something he committed and right now he was committed to understanding and befriending Komaeda.

"Maybe, I guess I don't know you well enough to know if you're that kind of person. But I'd like to."

Komaeda stumbled, not expecting that response. He ducked his head so Hinata couldn't see his expression though his shoulders seemed to be shaking ever so slightly.

"You… That… You would…" Komaeda stuttered.

Suddenly the bell rang causing them both to jump. Komaeda took the opportunity to rush down the hall to their homeroom. Hinata followed soon after, making sure to sit next to Komaeda much to the other's frustration. Komaeda realised Hinata was not going to be easily deterred. Part of him was happy, it had been so long since anyone had been willing to be his friend, but another part of him was terrified, being friends with him was suicide! You'd be shunned and possibly harassed by the rest of the school. He couldn't let that happen to someone as wonderful and kind as Hinata. No, Komaeda vowed then and there that no matter what it took, he was going to push Hajime Hinata away from him.


	6. Chapter 6

As the final bell rang on Friday, Naegi was only too happy to shove his stuff in his bag and sprint out of the classroom. It had been an unusual week to say the least, he'd been asked out by two girls in the popular group. One of them asking him out would be strange enough but two?! Why would someone like Maizono, a cute girl with all the energy and looks of an idol, be interested in a plain, pathetic boy like himself? Or someone like Celeste, with the flirtatiousness and beauty of a mature and refined woman. It made no sense. He decided it would be best not to think about it and hope things would be back to normal next week. Speaking of which, next week was the due date for his English essay, for which he had to finish not only his own but Enoshima's as well. As he mulled over how much work he had to do and how tired he was going to be and how despite his optimism he really hated his life sometimes, he suddenly realised he'd need a book from the library in order to finish the essays. He stopped just in front of the exit doors to the school and immediately turned around, heading back towards the library.

"Man, lucky I remembered before I got on the bus, and this means I'll have to get the late bus so I won't have to ride with Enoshima. Guess things are looking up." He said to himself, smiling as he walked through the large oak doors that lead to the school's library. The room was vast, walls lined with huge old oak bookshelves spanning two floors and circular tables dotted around the room for students to sit and study. Were it not for the computers at the back on the room and the main desk just to Naegi's right one would assume they'd stepped back into the 1920's. The room was practically empty except for the librarian and a figure on the second floor that Naegi could barely see under the room's low lights, they seemed to be looking through the mystery section, one Naegi visited frequently. There was something incredibly thrilling about figuring out the solution to a mystery and being able follow the character's as they also strived to figure it out. Naegi was a humble person, a very humble person in fact, but even he knew he was quite talented when it came to understanding people, looking at the actions, words and thoughts of the character's in mystery books was usually how he figured out the solution. He wished he could head up to the mystery section now and become lost in another great story but he needed to work on these assignments or else there's no telling what Enoshima would do. He quickly rushed over to the classic literature section of library and began scanning the shelves. Their English teacher had asked for a thousand word essay on the use of poetic and literary devices in 1984. Naegi had been coming to the library to work on it but he was still only eight hundred words in and that was just Enoshima's essay, he still had his own to do. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when he spotted a copy of it at the end of the bookcase, quickly grabbing it and rushing out of the isle towards the front desk. Unfortunately, in his rush, he didn't notice another figure walking across the room towards the front desk until he'd ploughed right into them, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Naegi was slightly disorientated for a few seconds before he realised what had happened and hastily kneeled next to the person, offering support and apologising profusely for what happened. Now that he was looking he saw the person he'd run into was a girl, not just any girl but one who's beautiful violet, almost silver hair was now hanging over her shoulders and face as she sat up grabbing the book she'd been carrying from where it had landed. Naegi felt his face flame up in embarrassment. Not only had he just run straight into someone like an idiot but of all people it was the girl he'd been crushing on for the last three years.

"I'm so sorry." Naegi squeaked, blushing heavily and helping Kirigiri up. Kirigiri seemed surprised for a fraction of a second as she noticed who it was that had knocked her over but her stoic mask was quickly back on her face as she brushed herself down and collected her stuff.

"It's fine, just be more careful in future." Kirigiri said politely.

"Yeah…" Naegi breathed awkwardly.

Kirigiri made to move around Naegi and keep walking to the chairs on the other side of the room, where she planned to sit and read quietly.

"So, deja vu moment huh?" Naegi blurted out suddenly, causing her to pause. She turned to face him, eyes crinkling in confusion. Naegi blushed, he wasn't sure why he'd said that, it was like his mouth refused to listen to him. "You know since we first met because I bumped into you here." Naegi wished he could melt into the floor he was so embarrassed, why couldn't he seem to stop himself from talking.

Kirigiri placed her thumb and index finger on her chin, a position she was known for adopting when she was thinking. She racked her brain until eventually the memory of a flustered Naegi bumping into her and the two of them sitting together to talk about their favourite mystery stories came flooding into her mind. It was probably the first and last proper interaction she'd had with the young Hope in all the time the two had known each other.

"I remember…" She said, lowering her hand and looking Naegi in the eye. If anything this made him even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah… Sorry, seems I can't keep from bumping into you." Naegi laughed. "If only I was less clumsy."

"I think it's not so much that you're clumsy, rather that you always seem to be in a hurry." Kirigiri replied.

"Ah, yeah, guess you're right." Naegi said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

There was an awkward pause between the two as neither of them really knew what to do. Naegi was trying to think of a way to salvage the situation without embarrassing himself further whilst Kirigiri was contemplating asking Naegi out just to get it over with, then she could tell Enoshima he rejected her and she could move on.

"Say uh Naegi…" She began nervously, she really didn't want to do this. It wasn't the fact that it was Naegi but rather that she just wasn't interested in romance in general. Also, she thought Enoshima was probably going to far with this, she felt guilty being involved in something so cruel. Unfortunately, she knew it was suicide for anyone to go against Enoshima. Kirigiri couldn't risk losing her place in the popular group, not because she liked the other people in the group but because being a member meant she was safe from any persecution and could spend her school days studying and preparing for the future in peace. The truth was, Kirigiri never gave a thought to doing the right thing or the wrong thing, only ever the smart thing. The smart thing right now was to stay on Enoshima's good side, which meant going along with her plan to break Naegi. "Would you like to get coffee together tomorrow?"

Naegi practically choked on his own spit when she said that. He was sure he must have misheard her.

"We could talk about our favourite mystery stories." She continued.

"Y-You, you mean like a date?!" Naegi stuttered, blushing profusely.

"Yeah— Well, I mean, yes." Kirigiri stammered, a light pink dusting her cheeks as she nervously placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Both Naegi and Kirigiri herself were surprised by this, it wasn't like her to stumbled over her words. "Forget it…" She sighed, "it was a stupid idea." She turned to leave, honestly pleased she managed to get that out of the way, when suddenly Naegi stopped her for the second time that afternoon.

"Wait, I- I'd love to."

Kirigiri turned to see him blushing even harder than he had been earlier, which she hadn't thought possible.

"I mean, I want to go on a date with you." He said, a bit more firmly.

"You do?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah, well, I mean, I've always liked you but, well, I…" Naegi's nervousness returned tenfold and he became a blushing stuttering mess once again. "Honestly," he began, suddenly looking at the floor forlornly, "I never believed someone like you would be interested in someone like me, you're so perfect and I'm so, well, the total opposite of that."

"You… Think I'm perfect?"

"Well yeah! I mean… You're beautiful of course, and smart and well, you always look so cold and emotionless but I really like how you smile so softly when you're happy and tuck your hair behind your ear when you're nervous or confused which makes you angry cause you don't like not knowing things, it's so cool how determined and dedicated you are even at the small things—" Naegi caught himself, realising he'd begun rambling, he blushed again, embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that."

Kirigiri just stared blankly at him, her face betraying nothing besides a soft blush. Inside, her emotions were spiking. Naegi's words… His deep understanding of her… His obvious feelings for her… No one had ever said anything so deep and meaningful to her before… People had complimented her before sure, but only ever basic things like how beautiful or smart she was, never how they admired even the small simple things about her personality the way Naegi seemed to.

"So… Uh… About that coffee date?" Naegi prompted. Kirigiri blinked, returning to reality. She smiled, softly, feeling very warm inside all of a sudden. She didn't think she'd ever experience a moment like this with anyone, but here she was, having an awkward yet romantic moment with Makoto Naegi.

"Yes, let's do so. At the cafe " She said, still smiling. Naegi's own mouth curved into a relived yet very excited smile.

"G-Great, awesome, yeah, fantastic." He babbled. "I'll, I'll see you then." He laughed awkwardly, stumbling away, almost tripping over a table as he went to check out his book. Kirigiri chuckled at his antics before catching herself and putting her mask back up. She'd never let it drop like it had for the duration of her conversation with the short social outcast. She hadn't even been thinking about Enoshima or her ridiculous plan when she'd agreed to the date. After he'd left though, it all came flooding back and she found herself feeling guilty. Normally she wouldn't care, in fact, she didn't understand why she cared now. She did her absolute best not to care about others. Not because she was a bad person, she didn't see herself as bad or good, but she kept herself closed off because she'd been hurt once before, badly, and from that day on she'd not been able to trust people anymore. The gloves on her hands did more than hide what was underneath, they were also a reminder; a reminder of how she'd been hurt so she would make sure it didn't happen again. She'd keep her heart closed, protected, that was the promise she made to herself. So why was Naegi able to get to her so easily?

Speaking of Naegi, he was just in time to catch the last school bus of the day. Not many people caught the bus at this time, especially on a Friday when everyone was anxious to get home and start their weekend. He noticed a couple of third year students sitting near the front but he didn't know them. He did however notice Komaeda sitting at the very back of the bus leaning his head against the glass of the window. He was clearly lost in thought, so lost in fact he didn't even notice when Naegi sat down beside him. Being the concerned person he was he naturally wanted to know what was bothering the pale young man. Naegi gave Komaeda's shoulder a quick tap causing him to flinch and turn sharply towards Naegi. Naegi threw his hands to let him know he meant no harm.

"Oh, Naegi…" Komaeda said, sounding very tired.

"Hey, Komaeda, are you feeling okay?" Naegi asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've been acting strange ever since Hinata came to school." Naegi didn't miss the way Komaeda flinched at Hinata's name.

"Oh, that, it's nothing to concern yourself over Naegi…" Komaeda turned back to the window, indicating he wished to leave things there. Naegi wasn't the kind of person to leave things alone when he thought someone was hurt though and lately Komaeda seemed to be in emotional turmoil.

"Komaeda, I know something's wrong, please just tell me, I want to help you." Naegi pleaded. "Besides, if you talk to me it's not like I'll gossip, who could I gossip to?"

Komaeda actually laughed a bit.

"Yeah, you and me both… Well… At least, it use to be that way, before Hinata."

"I don't understand, aren't you happy? To have a friend?"

"Are you ever happy when people ask to be your friend?" Komaeda deadpanned, knowing full well Naegi rejected potential friends just as much as him.

"I guess I'm not one to talk, you're right… Still, I'm glad someone seems determined to be friends with you."

"I'm not the kind of person people should be friends with Naegi, and I'm not just talking about the inevitable social outcast status that comes with being my friend, though that is important, there's also the fact that some of the rumours about me are true. I really am obsessive and emotionally unstable and disgusting and lowly and—"

"Komaeda!" Naegi interrupted, not only was Komaeda rambling but his eyes had taken on that crazed look he sometimes got. Thankfully Naegi's words snapped him out of it.

"Sorry, but see, this proves my point, I'm not a stable person. The scary thing is that I know that… I know I'm broken but I don't know how to fix it. I'm depressed Naegi, and, in the way some people turn to drugs or alcohol I turn to hope, which sounds fine… But the way I worship hope… I know it isn't healthy…" He turned to Naegi with tears in his eyes. "But I can't seem to stop."

Naegi pulled Komaeda in for a hug, allowing him to cry on his shoulder. Neither of them had noticed they were the only passengers on the bus, nor that they'd stopped near Komaeda's house.

"I know what I'm about to say is hypocritical and that you don't want to hear it," Naegi said, rubbing Komaeda's back, "but I think you should let Hinata into your life, let him help you. He's far braver than either of us…"

Komaeda didn't say anything, just continued crying. The bus driver glanced at the two boys in his rear-view mirror but quickly turned away, feeling intrusive. He knew he should tell them to break it up so the white-haired boy could get off, this was his stop, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So, instead, he waited patiently for Komaeda to calm down. It was six o'clock on a Friday evening, it wasn't like the streets were all that busy anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

"Good morning." Hinata said, greeting Komaeda in the hallway on Monday. He'd resolved to make friends with the strange pale boy and he felt a good place to start would be greeting him each morning. Komaeda raised his head, startled by Hinata's presence.

"Ah, Hinata, come to talk with trash like me, you really are too kind." He said with that crazed look he got sometimes. Hinata was visibly put off by this but he wasn't going to let it deter him. He leaned against the wall opposite Komaeda, trying to act nonchalant, even though his inner emotions were in a whirlwind.

"Yeah, so how are you this morning?" Hinata asked. Komaeda looked surprised for the smallest of a second before his disgustingly fake smile swiftly returned to his face.

"I'm… Good…" Komaeda said.

"Cool, did you do that homework we have for math? I kept getting stuck on the parabola questions, it's not that I find them hard I just suck at drawing so I had to keep redoing my graphs five or six times before it looked enough like the right shape." Hinata rambled, hoping to get a conversation going. School seemed like a safe topic to start on, and he was right. Komaeda actually laughed at what he said, only softly mind, but it was still quite an achievement.

"Yes, I did do the homework, I can't relate to your problem though, I had no trouble doing the graphs. But I suppose I have always been told I have a steady hand, my aunt used to make me repair her clothes when they ripped." He chuckled softly. Hinata laughed too, pleased Komaeda seemed to be warming up to him.

"So you're good at sowing huh?" Hinata said. "Have you ever made anything or do you just repair things?"

"Oh, I've made a few things, it's actually quite relaxing, sowing, mostly just simple cushions though, but sometimes I try more complicated patterns. My aunt once had me sow a dress for her daughter that was quite complex, I was actually quite proud of how it turned out though."

"Cool." Hinata smiled. "I'd like to see some of the stuff you've made, maybe I could go round your place sometime and check them out?"

"Uh!" Komaeda flinched at Hinata's words, suddenly realising what he'd been doing. He wanted to hit himself, talking to Hinata had just felt so… _right_. He had to remind himself it was wrong. Very wrong. He had to distance himself from the spiky-haired boy, for his own good. "It's getting late, I should get to class." He blurted out, running off down the corridor.

"Hey!" Hinata called after him, but he was too late, Komaeda had already gone through the classroom door and just a second later the school bell rang. Hinata sighed and joined the rest of his classmates as they strolled into the room. He was a point of striding with excessive determination to the chair right next to Komaeda, shocking both the boy in question and the rest of the class. People began whispering to each other about it but Hinata ignored them. The truth is people had been talking about him for the past three days he'd been at this school. It seems no one at this school could comprehend why anyone who'd spent even five minutes with Komaeda would want to be friends with him, a fact that made Hinata boil with rage. Yeah, Komaeda acted a bit strange sometimes, he'd get this crazy look in his eyes and begin rambling about hope or just give a spiel of self-deprecation, but Hinata could tell it wasn't his fault. He saw the way Komaeda smiled when Hinata was friendly to him, and the way he grew depressed when others bullied him. Komaeda had endured a hard life, one that had broken him, but it was obvious to Hinata that Komaeda wanted to be helped, even if he'd convinced himself he didn't deserve it. Hinata couldn't relate to being emotionally unstable, it'd never gotten quite that far, but he could relate to being lonely and wishing for someone to reach out to him. He saw Komaeda desired the same thing and he was going to be the one to do it, to reach out to Nagito Komaeda and become his friend. Which of course was easier said than done; even now Komaeda was doing his absolute best to ignore him. Hinata tried his best to focus on the teacher throughout class but he constantly found himself glancing to his left as though subconsciously watching over his white-haired friend. When the bell finally rang Komaeda actually rushed to gather his things and get out the classroom. Normally he'd go as slow as possible to be the last one out but today he was scared Hinata would wait for him and attempt to talk to him again so he quickly swept everything off his desk and weaved quickly through the desks and students to get to the door before Hinata. Sadly, in his desperation, he'd forgotten why it was he always tried to leave last. A leg jutted out from one of the desks he passed and, unable to stop in time, he tripped over it, becoming sprawled across the floor. Worse still, his unzipped bag was knocked forward by the force causing most of its contents to slide out in all directions. Komaeda lay still on the floor for a few seconds waiting for the initial pain to calm down. He pushed himself up shakily and began crawling around to each of his scattered belongings. He received no help from his classmates, they were all preoccupied with fits of laughter, all except one.

Hinata was both shocked and appalled by what had transpired. He knew that Komaeda was bullied but seeing it happen always seemed to catch him off guard. He struggled to comprehend why everybody seemed to hate him, why they made him an outcast. Well, he wasn't going to do that. He hurried over and helped Komaeda gather up his scattered belongings, effectively stopping the students' laughter. Now they were the ones struggling to comprehend. Why would anyone be so determined to befriend Komaeda? Didn't they know he was unstable? A stalker? Obsessive? A freak? The answer would be no, Hinata didn't know, or rather didn't believe, any of these things. From what he could gather Komaeda was just misunderstood. Yes, he pushed people away, and yes, he didn't have best coping methods for his loneliness but deep down, Hinata knew, he really did want to be loved.

"Thank you…" Komaeda mumbled, taking his things from Hinata. He kept his eyes averted the entire time. Hinata quietly watched as he walked, carefully this time, out of the room. He needn't have worried about being tripped again, everyone was too busy staring in shock, still not comprehending the fact that someone had willingly helped Komaeda. Eventually they snapped out of it and hurriedly gathered their things, not wanting to be late. Hinata was the last to leave the room, mind ladened with thoughts of Komaeda…

At lunch Komaeda, predictably, tried to grab his lunch from his locker and run off somewhere in the hope of avoiding a certain persistent spiky-haired Despair but he underestimated Hinata's determination. As he was taking his food out a hand wove its way around his shoulder. At first he panicked, thinking it might be Enoshima or someone else who wanted to bully him, but once he saw who it was he actually wished it had been one of his tormentors.

"Hey," Hinata greeted, smiling. "Let's go have lunch together, it's been far too long."

Komaeda stumbled as he was forcibly dragged down the hall towards the cafeteria.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, you should probably eat with someone else." Komaeda squeaked, trying weakly to break free from Hinata's grip. Hinata's face hardened.

"I want to eat with you." He said.

Komaeda didn't respond.

Naturally all eyes were on them as they entered the cafeteria. The stares from the popular table felt like the thinnest of needles, pricking against Komaeda's skin. Hinata strode to their usual table with such strong conviction no one dared move to stop them. When they finally sat down across from each other they made an interesting picture. A shy, hunched mouse and a defensive, determined lion. Though anyone with a good eye would be able to see the lion's hands shaking.

Hinata breathed out slowly, knowing things were going to be difficult for himself and his new friend but he hoped if he kept this up people would eventually get use to their friendship and forget about it. Fortunately for them Enoshima seemed preoccupied with her table at the moment, everyone was gather around Kirigiri at the moment who, despite her excellent poker face, seemed ever so slightly flustered.

"Hinata," the brunette turned his attention back to Komaeda, only to find him shaking and staring at him with sheer panic in his eyes. "Please, you have to sit somewhere else, everyone— Everyone will— I-I don't want—" He gasped softly as he felt a hand rest on top of his. "Hinata?"

"Komaeda, nothing you say will make me change my mind. I know you're scared of what people will do to me for hanging out with you and I also know you're scared of what you might do, but I also know you're lonely and even if you don't think you deserve it you want someone to be your friend, so I'm going to do that for you and that's that."

Komaeda stared at him open-mouthed. How had Hinata managed to suss him out so accurately? Though from what he'd seen Hinata was smart so it wasn't really all that surprising when he thought about it. He ate his food quietly, mulling over Hinata's words.

"Okay…" He said eventually.

"Hmm?" Hinata hummed in confusion, looking up from his boxed curry.

"You can sit with me at lunch…"

"Yeah!"

Komaeda startled slightly at Hinata's overjoyed reaction.

"I suppose that's what it'll take for you to realise it's a bad idea to hang out with me…"

"Nope, never gonna happen." Hinata said confidently.

"Believe me you'll grow tired of me eventually…"

"Nope."

Komaeda sighed, going back to his food. Hinata attempted to make light conversation as they ate and he even managed to draw a smile out of Komaeda a few times which was a great achievement as far as he was concerned.

As Hinata grabbed his things from his locker and headed for the exit he found he was unable to stop grinning and had to restrain himself from skipping down the hall as he left. Things went decidedly south after he got outside, however.

"Hey you!"

Hinata turned to see three boys he didn't recognise. He only knew the people in his year and the one below it so they must have been from one of the upper years. He quickly found himself surrounded by them.

"So you're the new kid everyone's been talking about." One of them, a gangly boy with a face even plainer than his, said.

"The guy who's friends with that hope cultist freak." Another, an incredibly handsome boy with shoulder-length blonde hair, said.

"Don't call him that!" Hinata yelled.

"Oh…" Hummed the final boy, a stout kid who had the two top buttons of his shirt undone and his tie slung lazily around his shoulders. "Don't like it when people talk smack about your boyfriend huh?" He punctuated his words with a punch to Hinata's face. Not expecting the blow, Hinata keeled over onto his knee only to be kicked in the stomach by the handsome boy.

"What's wrong loser? Can't fight back?" He taunted, grinding his foot onto Hinata's head. The other two joined in with the beating and Hinata found himself curled up on the floor shielding his head. Hinata wasn't a weak person but he wasn't exactly strong either. He didn't have huge muscles or take any martial arts or anything. In truth, for his age, he was pretty average in strength, as he was in about everything. So he was hardly a match for three people, especially given they were older than him.

"Hope freak!"

"Aw, gonna go cry to your hope god?"

Nobody stepped in to help, they either looked on silently or left, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

"Hinata!"

Oh no… Hinata looked up to see Komaeda standing in the doorway of the school with a wide horrified eyes. Satisfied, the three boys ran off, smirking in the knowledge their actions had affected not only the new kid but the "hope freak" too. Komaeda rushed to Hinata's side, hands hovering shakily over his friend wanting to help but afraid touching him might make things worse. Hinata groaned as he sat himself up. His whole body ached and there was blood and bruises all over the visible parts of his skin. Both boys were scared to find out how many other injuries he might have. Hinata looked into Komaeda's terrified eyes and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's not serious, nothings broken and once I bandage the cuts I should be totally fine."

Komaeda immediately broke down into tears.

"This is all my fault!" He cried, trying and failing to wipe the tears away.

"That's not true." Hinata insisted. "Those jerks are the ones at fault here not you."

"But still, they wouldn't have targeted you if you hadn't been hanging around me."

"Well then that's there problem, it's not a crime for us to be friends Komaeda and some dumb thugs aren't gonna scare me off."

Komaeda stared at Hinata with his mouth open. He was really willing to be his friend? Even after everything? Tears poured even harder from his eyes. What had he done to deserve this. He felt warm arms embracing him and rubbing his back soothingly.

"I promise, Komaeda, from now on I'm going to be your friend. You won't have to be alone anymore."

Eventually Komaeda calmed done. He'd been crying quite a bit lately hadn't he?

"I better head home and take care of these scrapes." Hinata said, attempting to stand. His knees immediately buckled but Komaeda was quick and caught him. He lifted Hinata to his feet and allowed him to lean on his shoulders.

"Let me at least take you to my house and see to your injuries for you, you're in no condition to be going home on your own."

"Are you sure?"

"Believe me I have plenty of experience cleaning wounds." Komaeda said all this with a carefree smile but the implication made Hinata even more angry and worried. As he looked at Komaeda's face, baring a smile that to most would have looked happy but to Hinata was so obviously fake, he silently promised himself that someday soon he'd make Komaeda smile for real.


End file.
